House to Home

I’d say we all have the little stuff taken care of—when the garbage is full, we take it out. When the milk spills, we clean it up. Heck, we even know to dust and vacuum but there are home maintenance needs that are easily neglected and can lead to health concerns or costly maintenance down the road. Below are some commonly neglected areas that need weekly attention.

Not only should we clean our pet’s food and water bowls but have you checked out the area around it? Maybe, your animal is a cleaner eater than mine but the baseboard and floor (even though we have a larger rubber mat) gets coated in dog food gunk. Seriously, I don’t know how he does it. Trust me, if you don’t stay on top of cleaning this area at least once a week, once you do decide to take it on, a lot of elbow grease is required!I’m certainly guilty of this next one. Our garbage disposals can collect bacteria both on the blades and on the plastic ring. Cleaning pellets are available at the local grocery store but there’s an easier way—freeze lemon juice or vinegar in ice cube trays then run it through the disposal. The ice will knock off any traces of old food or buildup on the blades!

Also, located in our kitchens and collecting nastiness is the exterior of our cabinets. They collect dirt, oil and grease from cooking; unfortunately, the only way to avoid this is to stop cooking in the kitchen… although some nights, I think this might be the best option! Use your favorite cleaning product to wipe down the outside of the kitchen cabinets, particularly focusing on those exposed to our cooking messes!

Trust me when I say, I’m not “Suzy Home-maker”. I consider a night when I don’t forget to switch my towels over to the dryer and get the dishes from dinner done, to be a success. However, these weekly items seem tackle-able and in the long run if it can save me some time and money, totally worth doing! What do you say? Are you going to join me in this weekly cleaning?